ACLU Vows Legal Challenge to Biden Border Order

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The American Civil Liberties Union vowed a court challenge Tuesday to President Joe Biden’s new executive order on the U.S. southern border.

Biden’s order, issued Tuesday, bars migrants from being granted asylum when U.S. officials deem the border is overwhelmed. The move sets the stage for much of the nation’s southern border to close at midnight.

The ACLU said the executive order will put thousands of lives at risk.

“They will not meet the needs at the border, nor will they fix our broken immigration system,” said Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer at the ACLU.

The civil liberties organization previously sued the Trump administration over its immigration policies, including banning asylum.

“We urge the administration to uphold its campaign promise to restore asylum and mobilize the necessary resources to address the challenges at the border. It’s not just the morally sound thing to do — it’s good politics,” Schifeling said. “Voters view immigration as a top concern, and they’re looking to our elected leaders to champion solutions that are both effective and consistent with our nation’s values.”

Biden has been taking hits on both sides of the aisle over his border plan, with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. calling it a charade.

“He tried to convince us all for all this time that there was no way he could possibly fix the mess,” Johnson said. “Remember that he engineered it.”

Johnson noted Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas issued 64 executive orders to open the border.

“They engineered the open border,” Johnson said. “They did it intentionally. There’s no question about it. Now he wants to issue some weak executive order to try to address the issue. It’s window dressing. Everybody knows it.”